TURIN: Juventus stopped Inter Milan from replacing Napoli at the top of Serie A on Sunday by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into Italy`s Champions League positions.

Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin.

Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions following some clever footwork in the box by Randal Kolo Muani before he found the Portugal attacker, who fired home to give Juve a third straight league win.

Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal difference from Lazio who had done wasteful Inter a favour by holding Napoli to a 2-2 draw on Saturday.

But Napoli stay at the summit with Antonio Conte`s team and Inter, with 54 points from 25 games, facing off in Naples in a fortnight, a match which could well be key to the destination of the Scudetto.

`The win tonight gives us confidence and an awareness of what we`re capable of,` said Thiago Motta, whose first season in charge of Juve has been difficult.

`They deserve it for the effort they put in during training and the fact that they give everything in every match.

Juve now turn their attentions to Wednesday`s return leg of a Champions League play-off with PSV Eindhoven, with Motta`s side leading 2-1 following the first leg in Turin.Sunday`s match wasn`t quite as exciting as the 4-4 draw at the San Siro in October but the scoreline didn`t reflect the number of chances created by both teams, and in particular Inter.

Inter`s Mehdi Taremi set the tone in an intense clash with a stunning bicycle kick that goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio reacted swiftly to push away, before Denzel Dumfries sent the rebound over the bar.

Minutes later, Juve`s Nico Gonzalez struck a powerful longrange shot that forced Yann Sommer into a fingertip save before making another stop to keep out the follow-up from Conceicao.

The chances kept coming for both sides, with Kolo Muani and Inter forward Lautaro Martinezwasting clear opportunities by sending their efforts well over the bar as halftime approached.

Just before the break, Dumfries led another Inter attack into the box but the Juve defence forced him into a tight angle and his shot clipped the post.

Both sides continued to play on the frontfoot in the second half as they tried to end the deadlock but it was Conceicao who finally broke Inter`s resistance to delight the home fans.

Only minutes later, Juve came close to another goal as Teun Koopmeiners` shot was blocked on the line by Dumfries.

Simone Inzaghi`s Inter pushed forward and Marcus Thuram produced a volleyed attempt but they could not find a last-ditchequaliser, leaving the thrilling title race on a knife-edge with 13 rounds to go.

`There is a lot of regret and disappointment, but the boys showed great organisation and courage, Inzaghi told DAZN. `We needed to score more goals and finish the first half with a lead.

Earlier Como pulled away from the Serie A relegation zone with a convincing 2-0 away win at Fiorentina.

Assane Diao and Nico Paz struck in each half to give Como a surprise success in Florence which snapped a three-match losing streak and moved them up to 13th.

Cesc Fabregas` team are five points above Parma, who sit just inside the relegation zone after losing 1-0 to Roma, after a deserved win at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Wealthy Como invested heavily in the winter transfer window in the hope of staying in Serie A and Diao netted his fourth goal in seven matches since arriving from Real Betis.

But Argentina international Paz has been the star of the show at Como and he sealed the win in the 66th minute with a rocket of a shot which took his league tally to six goals.

Alessandro Nesta began his second spell as Monza manager with a goalless draw with Lecce which did little to boost their survival hopes.

Monza recalled Italy icon Nesta on Monday after firing his replacement Salvatore Bocchetti but stay rock-bottom and seven points behind Empoli, who sit just outside the drop zone and were beaten 3-0 at Udinese.-Agencies